Can anyone loosen the French grip on rugby’s Champions Cup, Toulouse and La Rochelle having dominated the tournament in recent times? In his preview of the new campaign, which includes a pool by pool guide and a heap of predictions, Gerry Thornley reckons Leinster are still “the most viable threat” to that stranglehold.
Mind you, no team had more players on international duty of late, hence no team has had a more disruptive build-up, Leinster having to make do without Hugo Keenan for their opening game against Bristol on Sunday after he injured his wrist against Australia last weekend.
They’ve had to make do without Dan Sheehan since July when he damaged his anterior cruciate ligament in the opening Test of Ireland’s summer tour of South Africa, but the hooker is on the path to recovery and is aiming to be back in action in the early stages of 2025. “I haven’t had one setback yet, so hopefully in the new year I can get kicking,” he tells Daire Walsh.
And Nathan Johns hears from Bristol coach Pat Lam ahead of his side’s game against Leinster, the New Zealander telling the Counter Ruck podcast how the death of his good friend Anthony Foley impacted his decision to leave Connacht and accept the English club’s offer in the hope of securing his family’s financial future.
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In Gaelic games, the fixtures for football and hurling’s league campaigns have been announced, both getting under way on the last weekend in January. Seán Moran browses through them to pick out the plum ties, among them the Division One meeting of last year’s All-Ireland finalists, Armagh and Galway, in Salthill.
Johnny Watterson, meanwhile, looks at the support Gerry Hutch received from inner-city Dublin in his recent general election campaign, support that created “considerable unease” in the establishment, leaving it “collectively clutching its pearls”. His gifting of a home for Corinthians Boxing Club played no small part in that backing.
And ahead of this weekend’s Hong Kong Carnival, Brian O’Connor writes about how racing’s “long-term prosperity may be bound up in looking east”, at a time when the sport’s “western racing jurisdictions are increasingly angst-ridden about the future”.
TV Watch: Defending champion Scottie Scheffler returns to action after a nine-week break to headline the Tiger Woods-hosted Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas (Sky Sports Golf, 6.30pm-9.30pm). Later, you have your pick of two Champions Cup games, Bath v La Rochelle (Premier Sports 1) and Gloucester v Edinburgh (Premier Sports 2), both starting at 8pm.
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